When the Knight is Done
by December
Summary: Terry's thoughts on the two types of people in Gotham and when Gotham's knight can be over.


When the Knight is done

By: December

Ever notice those people who are always happy? I know there aren't many of them in Gotham. This city doesn't lend itself to sweetness and light. But some of them are even here, managing to survive in the Gotham reality. These people tend to see the positive. They smile. They see the good in the bad guy, the silver lining in the dark cloud, the possible laughter in the sad situation. Good shines around them, almost like they are in constant day.

Well, for those people for whom it is always day, there are other for whom it is always night. Night-roamers as opposed to day-dwellers.

I know what you're thinking. And you're wrong. The night-roamers are not the petty criminals or the bands of Jokerz or Ts that come out in force at night. They just use the night to cloak what they do. At least sometimes they do. The ones who don't use the cover of night are especially dangerous – as the Old Man would point out and I've discovered first hand a few times. But it isn't perpetual night for them either. They are just playing, just acting out, just working. Some of them are day-dwellers as well. Just slightly more blitzed than most.

No, for night-roamers, it is different. There are some of us that live in constant night, even during the day. Of the night-roamers, some seem born into this state. But they are rare; most of the rest of us were dragged into this world. Tragedy dragged us there. It was the tragedy – the MAN MADE tragedy – that has us seeing the shadows were others see the sun. We see the bad fall-out of the joke, the not-so-pretty explanation for the disappointment, the sad situation in the laughter. The sun doesn't ever rise on us. Or, at least, it doesn't for very long.

There are a few night-roamers that don't fight the darkness. "Oh, slaggit," they think and try to move on with their lives. A few of them manage to live in the dark. The others – they rush their exit from this world, in hopes that there is sun on the other side.

Most night-roamers fight the night, however, but we all fight for different reasons. A few fight so that others don't join the ranks of the night-roamers. Every sunny person is a sign of their success. Every new citizen of the night is a symbol of a set back or failure.

In thinking about it, the Old Man is like that. It's like he's given up on the night ending. For him at least. So he protects the day for everyone else. And any small failure in this area, he takes to heart.

Yes, he has one. And I say this not just because he has physical heart problems. The hardest people feel the most. He takes all of his failures to protect to heart – that is why he's so cranky. With Mr. Drake, the Commish, and me. Along with the former Nightwing, we are the people he couldn't protect from the night. We are his failures, which also made us his family. Preventing our further corruption and the corruption of others became even more important to him. And maybe he succeeded a little, with the Commish anyway. Not that she's sweetness and light, but she's not as much in the night as the rest of us. Although, in her case, she must be in a constant state of twilight. Given what her father did for a living, she was probably in that state since birth.

There are other night-roamers who fight for the end of the night. People like me. I'm not quite as cynical as the old Bat. He'd probably add a "yet" to that statement, and some days, I'd agree. But, at my core, I still believe there will be a time when the night is done. Maybe I'm being naïve, but I believe the worse of living in constant night can end. That we'll all be able to have at least a twilight or a "just before dawn" experience. That the shadows around every corner can lighten and signs of the sun are coming.

It's why I fight the darkness. And, ironically, since surrounding myself in darkness to fight for the light, my life has become less dark. Sure, Mom still has issues trusting me. And yeah, I'm sleeping through high school – and struggling in family studies (which is possible, damnit!). And okay, and the idea of a social life is laughable. It's hard enough to hold onto my girlfriend for a solid two months without a fight. But I can see a time when the fighting stops.

When the Knight is done.

- the end -


End file.
